Weather is one of those things that helps us mark life events and many times 'weather' is the protagonist in the story of our lifetimes. Will you ever forget the Christmas, "Miracle" 2004 snowstorm? Over a foot of snow fell on Christmas Eve in Brazoria County, with up to 4" for Houston and Galveston, making the ground white with just enough so the kids could make a snowman. (We haven't seen anything like that since, and before 2004 we hadn't recorded significant snow here since 1996 -- and before that,1989!) It seems these days there are few things we all share in common, but weather is certainly one of them.
Just as rare as are Houston snowstorms, Houston hurricanes are few and far between -- but when they strike, they are remembered forever, by the generation who endured them. 1983's Hurricane Alicia was that kind of storm. Today marks its 33rd anniversary and I'm sure many of you reading have tales to share! (Please do, by going to be my Facebook page and commenting under the link to this story.)
Hurricane Alicia formed quickly! In the Gulf of Mexico, about 100 miles south of Louisiana on August 15th, an area of thunderstorms developed along a cold front which had stalled over those tepid, August tropical waters. It started to rotate around a newly-formed low pressure center and the small circulation rapidly strengthened into a tropical storm by the end of the day. As happens occasionally in the 87°-90° waters of the Gulf, the system was able to suck up that warm-water energy and organize into a full-fledged hurricane within 48hrs! By the time it made landfall on the Texas coast near Freeport, it packed winds of Category 3 strength: 115 mph. From there it tracked right into Houston with Cat 1 winds of 80mph and finally ... dissipated into a tropical depression as it approached Oklahoma. Alicia dumped 8"-12" of rain and knocked out power to most. Erosion happened on the beaches but the seawall was thought to have prevented much worse storm surge damage.
Perhaps a more memorable legacy of Alicia is that its winds blew all the rock ballast and gravel stones from atop Houston's skyscrapers (placed there by design), into neighboring downtown buildings, shattering countless glass window panes and causing millions in damage. Wind-blown glass shards rained down on the streets for several hours. And so it was: due entirely to Alicia, Houston's building codes would change forever, to avoid a repeat of wind-blown shrapnel over downtown, in future storms!
After Alicia, Hurricane Ike in 2008 would be Houston's next "big" hurricane. That too, was generation-defining. (Yes, there were a few less significant hurricanes in between Alicia and Ike -- like Chantal in August of 1989 and Jerry in October of the same year. Anyone remember the remnants of Hurricane Rose, which dumped 29.40" of rain in Cypress, causing massive flooding? We can't forget 2001's Tropical Storm Allison, which dumped up to 37" of rain -- literally submerging most of the city of Houston under several feet of muddy flood water. Even our studios at KHOU were under 30" of water! What a mess.)
Here's the walkaway: If you take all total hurricanes which have directly hit Houston and divide by the number of years records have been kept, our area sees a hurricane every 9-10 years and the last one was 8 years ago. We're statistically due. If your homeowners insurance premiums don't remind you of how susceptible we are to damage from hurricanes in the Houston area, let this anniversary of the infamous Hurricane Alicia serve as a reminder that our next, "generation defining" weather event could be this year ... or next. Take action today to prepare!
